Italy sep 2007

greetings from rome

We got here just fine. Left the house at something like 4am on Wed, got the tandem and luggage checked in with no problems. Man that case is nice. Matt said we had a soft-side case, and I'm thinking canvas duffle type bag, but that bag weighs more than the bike. In fact, I can't lift the bag at all! But it's got4 wheels, 2 which rotate, and is quite easy to maneuver. The flight took off from SeaTac about 30 mins late, but our captain requested a speed increase and a more direct route and we made up the time, landing on the original schedule's time. Aunty, Grandma (4 months shy of her 101st birthday!!!) adn family friend Arlene came out to the airport to see us. We had a 5 hr layover, so we were able to spend almost 4 hours together. I took Grandma a couple decks of large print playing cards, and 4 boxes of various flavor apples and cotlets. she just loves those things! she's looking real good. still hurts when she hugs! :-)

The flight from Cinti to Rome was a new experience. Delta had removed some coach seats up front, expanding the '1st class' section into more of a '1st class/biz section' and we were able to get seats up there. so instead of 3-aisle-4 aisle-3 seating it was 2-aisle-2-aisle-2. we had our own individual little tv, where we could watch hbo, tv, the movies, or play video games! of course you had to watch what was being aired :-( it was a really comfy ride. we're hoping to call klm and get waitlisted fro upgrades on teh return flight - when matt called before we left home there was nothing available. so we'll see. he's still such a little boy when it comes to airports and flying!

We got into Rome about 11am ish on Thurs. beautiful day! got through passport control easy-peasy, retrieved our bags, and then went outside to try and find a taxi. if you need a minivan or large vehicle you might want to make arrangements with the hotel to have them pick you up, even if you have to 'rent the larger car' - it might be a little more $$ than the taxi (our hotel quoted 90$ and we ended up paying 80$) but it took us an hour to secure a ride and get the van there. not that we minded. it was a beautiful day!

Our 1st glitch came when we checked into the hotel. They couldn't find our reservation for the advance days. They looked under my name, matts and the tour groups and couldn't find anything until the 16th! wah! but they had rooms available so no biggie - although it could've been. we'll have to get with jan from santana tours and have her work it out since we have, in essence, double paid for the room. After a shower and lunch we came upstairs and jut crashed. matt was starting to feel a bit under the weather from lack of sleep (mon & tues he only had about 3 hours, too, becuase he had office deadlines he had to meet before we left). And i was feeling a little out becuase the plane was so cold... so it's about 3pm when we sit down. I had plans to catch you up on the stp but after 30 mins of trying to figure out the internet here - they have WiFi but it isn't free. so we got a week's IE pass, but are limited to 1 gig of traffic for the week.

I've been takign pictures and I promised to email a "postcard". I won't be able to send it until either the last night or morning, so i don't use up the gig too soon. I also may not be able to upload pics of Rome to my soace, either... I'll get them on the laptop, and I'm hoping that last night, with whatever space is left on our pass to upload as many as possible, but no idea.